Surprise ending-- after 1 1/3

June 06, 2006|Jackie MacMullan, Globe Columnist

NEW YORK -- Of all the possible scenarios, this surely was not one that occurred to anyone wearing red socks.

Or, as it turned out, the guys in the blue socks, either.

"You never -- ever -- expect a game like this with Beckett pitching," said Yankees ace Mike Mussina.

The start of yet another Boston-New York baseball series held delicious promise, with Mussina and the cocky young Josh Beckett ready to match precision with power. Mussina came into the game with a 7-1 mark, a 2.42 ERA, and an unbeaten record at home (3-0). His changeup has been absolutely nasty (thanks to some spring training tips from catcher Jorge Posada), and, as always, his control masterful.

Conversely, Beckett has been all about emotion and heat. He had already beaten the Yankees once this season, 14-3, May 9, and of course Red Sox fans love to recall his 2003 heroics in Yankee Stadium, when he spun a five-hitter in Game 6 of the World Series to win, 2-0, and clinch the title for Florida. Whenever anyone questioned whether Beckett could handle pressure, Sox fans quickly pointed to that magical night in the Bronx, which led to a Series MVP award to go alongside his championship ring.

With that backdrop, it was nothing short of stunning to watch Beckett stride off the mound after 1 1/3 innings -- for good.

It was a seven-run second inning that did him in, with the lowlights including six consecutive hits from New York's depleted yet perpetually potent lineup. One was a three-run shot by Andy Phillips over the left-field fence; another was a titanic three-run homer to right by Jason Giambi, who deposited Beckett's 96-mile-per-hour fastball just a tad below the upper deck. The ball caromed off the trim that separates the second tier from the third, and it sounded as if someone had lit an M-80 in a trash can with the lid on.

The two long balls were the 15th and 16th home runs Beckett has given up this season. He remains neck and neck with the White Sox' Jon Garland and Baltimore's Bruce Chen (they've both given up 17) for the dubious honor of allowing the most home runs in the majors.

Even more stupefying, Beckett already has matched his career high in home runs allowed in a season -- and it's only June.

Early June.

Beckett logged 156 2/3 innings in giving up 16 homers in 2004. To date, he has pitched 70 innings.

``It's all about executing pitches," Beckett said in the quiet of the clubhouse. ``You can't throw the ball down the middle of the plate with these guys. You know that going in."

A shellacking of the type Beckett endured last night in a horrendous 13-5 Red Sox loss does extremely undesirable things to your ERA -- like inflating it from 4.46 to a Lowe-esque 5.27. What it will do to Beckett's psyche remains to be seen.